Insertion station for envelope-stuffing apparatus or for a section thereof of mail handling apparatus

ABSTRACT

An insertion station for a mail-handling machine includes a driving lever 25 and a means for swivelling the driving lever 25 back-and-forth according to an operating cycle. Axle members 18, 19 have a cam 20 mounted therebetween and a spring 26 extends between the driving lever 25 and the cam. A base plate 1 includes grooves 2, 3, 4 and finger-roller guides 28 have front and rear ends mounted above the base plate. Insertion ramps 35, 36, 37 are located below the rear ends of the finger-roller guides; and, inserting arm means 8, 9, 10 and 14, 15, 16 have fingers 5, 6, 7 and finger rollers 27, 38, 39 attached thereto. The inserting arm means 8, 9, 10 and 14, 15, 16 are connected to the axles 18, 19; the fingers 5, 6 and 7 are mounted on the insertion arms which are adapted to slide the fingers 5, 6, and 7 forwardly in an input direction in the grooves 2, 3, 4 of the base plate 1; and, the finger rollers 27, 38, 39 are in engagement with the finger-roller guides 28 for movement backwardly and upwardly above the base plate under control of the finger-roller guides, wherein, upon reaching the rear end of the finger-roller guides, the finger rollers 27, 38, 39 fall onto the insertion ramps 35, 36, 37 for the gradual insertion of the input fingers into the corresponding grooves 2, 3, 4 of the base plate 1. Rotary tension-adjustment means are connected between the axles 18, 19 and the inserting arm means for reducing bounce of the inserting-arm means.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates to an insertion station for envelope-stuffingapparatus or for envelop-stuffing apparatus sections of mail handlingapparatus. Frequently- used insertion stations of the prior art comprisea driving lever which swivels back and forth, in accordance with anoperating cycle, and vertically to the feeding direction of the materialto be inserted into envelopes. An axle arrangement is mounted theretoand is spring-loaded, perpendicularly to a base plate and parallel tothe driving lever--the axles having insertion arms with an adjustmentblock mounted to each of them. Fingers of the insertion arms slideforwardly in an input direction in grooves of the base plate and arecyclically moved backwardly and upwardly above the base plate in amovement controlled by a finger roller guide. After the fingers reachthe rear end of the finger roller guide, they transition from thebackward location to forward input movement while at least one of theinput finger rollers falls onto a substantially wedge-shaped insertionramp for a gradual insertion of the input finger into the correspondinggroove of the base plate.

The insertion stations of the prior art are generally time-tested, butone particular problem arises due to continuous increases in theoperational speeds of mail handling apparatus. That is, the fingerroller mounted onto an insertion arm abruptly leaves a finger rollerguide at the end of a return movement in a cycle during which the fingerroller guide is lowered onto and raised above the base plate upon thereturn movement. Tension of spring devices between the axle arrangementand the driving lever then causes the entire insertion-arm group to snapdownwardly in the direction of the base plate. This movement causes thefingers of the insertion arms to noisily hit the grooves of the baseplate and possibly bounce back such that the ends of the fingers reachabove the material to be enveloped, and thus cause malfunctions.

It is a further disadvantage of apparatus of the prior art that theslack or play between the axle arrangement and the axle-ends of theinsertion arms becomes uncontrollably larger after a comparatively shortoperation period such that irregular operation of individual insertionarms must be expected. Attempts have been made in apparatus of the priorart to correct this by adjusting the spring tension between the axlearrangement and the back-and-forth swivelling driving lever. Theseattempts, however, have not been satisfactory because of increases inthe above-mentioned problems of noisy snapping movements of theinsertion arms at the end of a return movement before the insertionmovement.

It is an object of this invention to provide an insertion station of thetype described above wherein increases in operational speed neverthelessallow reliable functioning, a longer operation span between requiredadjustments of assemblies, lower noise levels and lower maintenance.

SUMMARY

The foregoing and other objectives of this invention are achieved byincluding a tension-adjustment mechanism between an above-described axlearrangement and the insertion arms so that the objectional insertion-armbounce is substantially reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the following more specific descriptionof a preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which reference characters refer to the sameparts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarilyto scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating principles ofthe invention in a clear manner.

FIG. 1 is an isometric, schematic view of an insertion station accordingto this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional, partially-schematic, partial view of aconnection between the rear end of an insertion arm and an axlearrangement for a rotary slack or tension-adjustment mechanism; and

FIG. 3 is an isometric, sectional, schematic view of the rear portion ofthe base plate of the insertion station as in FIG. 1 with an additionaldevice for holding down material to be stuffed into envelopes.

The insertion station as depicted in FIG. 1 is part of anenvelope-stuffing apparatus section which, for example, may be the laststation in a mail-handling conveyor chain schematically indicated by adot-dash arrow P. The mail-handling station of FIG. 1 may have handlingstations arranged ahead, or in front, for collecting form-sheet stacksand/or for conveying form sheets or form sheet stacks. Thus, inaccordance with an operation cycle, sheet stacks introduced by theconveyor chain from previous stations, may be inserted into theinsertion station of FIG. 1 as material to be enveloped by the structureaccording to FIG. 1.

The insertion station has a base plate 1 with grooves 2, 3, 4 arrangedlaterally to the feeding path of the conveyor chain P. These groovesinteract with insertion fingers 5, 6, 7, made from flexible, hardplasticmaterial, in a manner described in the following.

As depicted in FIG. 1, block-shaped portions of insertion fingers 5, 6,7 have slots, or notches, parallel to the grooves 2, 3, 4 into which thefront ends of insertion arms 8, 9, 10 are fitted for fastening to theinsertion fingers 5, 6, 7 by means of shaped plates 11, 12, 13. The rearportions of the insertion arms 8, 9, 10 have bearing blocks 14, 15, 16holding the rear portions of the insertion arms in rear slots as shown.The rear ends of the insertion arms 8, 9, 10 are fastened to the rearslots by any suitable means such as the screws shown in FIG. 2.

The bearing blocks 14, 15, 16 have bearing bore holes 17 (FIG. 2). Anaxle 18 extends through the bearing bore hole 17 of the bearing block14; and, an axle 19 extends through the bearing bore hole 17 of thebearing blocks 15 and 16. The axles 18 and 19 are arranged parallel tothe direction of the conveyor chain P, laterally to the direction of thegrooves 2, 3, 4 and parallel to one another.

A cam or link 20 is fixedly coupled to and positioned between the axles18 and 19. In working embodiments of the insertion station of thisinvention, the cam 20 has certain adjustment features and a certainshape, but those matters are not significant here and will not befurther discussed. The axles 18 and 19 and the fixedly-coupled cam 20make up an axle arrangement onto which the insertion arms 8, 9, 10 aremounted with limited adjustment for rotational slack.

This rotational slack adjustment is, for example, as known from priorart arranged such that the axles 18 and 19 respectively have a bore hole21 in the area inside the bearing blocks 14, 15, 16. A screw 23 isscrewed into a partially-threaded hole through the respective insertionarm 9 and bearing block 15 and a tapered or stepped pin-shaped end 22extends into the bore hole 21. In this respect, as shown in FIG. 2, theend 22 has a smaller diameter than the bore hole 21.

The thusly arranged rotational tensioning or slack adjustment betweenthe axle 19 and the insertion arm is for ensuring even, smoothengagement, or contact, of the insertion fingers 5, 6, 7, with thematching grooves 2, 3, 4 of the base plate , notwithstanding smalladjustment errors, or misalignments, between the direction of the baseplate 1 and the axle arrangements.

The end portions of the axle 18 extending from both sides of the cam 20extend into legs 24 of the fork-shaped driving lever 25, which iscyclicly swivelled back and forth in the direction of an arrow Alaterally to the direction (P) of the conveyor chain as determined bythe machine cycle of the insertion machine. In this manner, theinsertion arms 8, 9, 10 are moved along, in the direction correspondingto the grooves 2, 3, 4 of the base plate 1.

During the above-described swivel movement of the driving lever 25, theinsertion arms 8, 9, 10 are also continuously biased, or spring-loaded,with regard to the corresponding grooves 2, 3, 4 by a spring 26 arrangedbetween the driving lever 25 and the cam 20 and, thereby, also betweenthe driving lever 2 and the axle arrangement 18, 19.

For moving the material to be enveloped onto the base plate 1 andunderneath the insertion arms during their return movement, aroll-shaped finger roller 27 is mounted to a side of the insertionfinger 5. The finger roller 27 cooperates with a strip-shapedfinger-roller guide 28 such that the finger-roller guide 28 is movedupwardly and downwardly by conventional means about an axis 29 which isparallel to the feeding path (P) in the direction of the arrow K inaccordance with the operating cycle of the insertion machine. When theinsertion arms 8, 9, 10 have executed an insertion movement, the fingerroller 27, during the return movement, rolls onto a front portion of thefinger-roller guide 28 which is substantially touching the base plate 1.The finger-roller guide 28 is then swivelled, or moved, upwardly aboutits axis 29, thereby lifting up all of the insertion arms 8, 9, 10linked, or coupled, by means of the axle arrangement above the baseplate 1.

According to an important feature of the insertion station of thisinvention, the individual torsional or rotational slack-adjustmentassemblies between (1) the axles 18 and 19 and (2) the bearing blocks14, 15, 16 are individually spring-loaded, or biased, byschematically-illustrated spring devices 30 (FIG. 2) such that thepin-shaped ends 22 of the screws 23 fasten off-center to the associatedhole 21. In this manner, as shown in FIG. 2, the ends 22 abut the sideof the hole 21 that is closest to the insertion fingers 5, 6, 7.

The spring devices 30 can be comprised of a helical spring 31 (FIG. 1)extending between spring bearings on the bearing block 14 and a forkedleg 24 of the driving lever 25 or by helical springs 32 and 33 arrangedabout the axle 19 and extending between (1) the bearing blocks 15 and 16and (2) an adjustment ring 34 which is fastened such as by a radial boreand screw arrangement to the axle 19 between the bearing blocks 15 and16. The biasing means, or springs, 30 effect automatic activation of therotation-slack-adjustment assemblies between the axle arrangement andthe insertion arms 8, 9, 10 such that the insertion arms 8, 9, 10 do notsnap, or bounce, even at maximum rotary slack along the axes of the axlearrangement.

Wedge-shaped insertion ramps, or finger-roller guide ramps 35, 36, 37are arranged adjacent the rear portion of the grooves 2, 3, 4, whereinthe wedge-shaped insertion ramp 35 interacts with the finger roller 27of the insertion arm 8, while the further wedge-shaped insertion ramps36 and 37 interact with roll-shaped finger rollers 38 and 39, which arelocated adjacent the block-shaped insertion fingers 6 and 7. At the endof a return movement of the driving lever 25 the finger roller 27 leavesthe finger roller guide 28 and the spring 26 allows the insertion arms8, 9, 10 to swivel downwardly while the cam 20 is pivoted. The insertionfingers 5, 6, 7, however, do not fall immediately into the correspondinggrooves 2, 3, 4 of the base plate 1. Instead their finger rollers 27,38, 39 first reach the wedge-shaped insertion ramps 35, 36, 37 so that,during the following insertion movement, the insertion fingers 5, 6, 7enter the grooves 2, 3, 4 gradually and gently, thus avoiding loud noiseand the development of bouncing that may lead to malfunctions.

FIG. 3 shows a swivelling strip-shaped brush 41 which may be a metalstrip with a bevelled edge facing downwardly, for holding down thematerial to be stuffed into envelopes. The brush or strip 41 hangs froma rod mounted at one end to a block 40, while the other end is suspendedin a cantilever manner and arranged at the rear end of the base plate 1between the grooves 2, 3, 4. In this manner, material that is to beinserted by the insertion fingers 5, 6, 7 passes underneath theswivelling brush 41 before being inserted into an envelope 42 shown inFIG. 1 by dot-dash lines.

Prior art devices for holding down the material to be stuffed intoenvelopes have been plate-shaped and spring-loaded. In contrast, theswivelling brush or strip 41 of the instant invention has the shape of ametal strip with a bevelled edge facing downwardly; and, this improvesaccessibility of the insertion station in a relatively uncomplicated, orsimplified arrangement.

While the invention has been specifically shown and described withreference to preferred embodiments, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:
 1. An insertion station for envelope-stuffing sections ofmail-handling apparatus which operates in accordance with an operatingcycle to insert material into envelopes, said insertion stationcomprising:a driving lever; means for swivelling said driving leveraccording to said operating cycle, said swivelling being back and forthand vertically to a feeding direction of said material to be insertedinto said envelopes; at least one axle member; a first member mounted tosaid at least one axle member; spring means extending between saiddriving lever, and said first member; a base plate having groovestherein; finger-roller guides having front and rear ends and beingmounted above said base plate; insertion ramps located below said rearends o said finger-roller guides; inserting arm means having insertionarms having insertion fingers and finger rollers attached thereto; saidinserting arm means being connected to said at least one axial member;said fingers being mounted on said insertion arms which are adapted toslide said fingers forwardly in an input direction in said grooves ofsaid base plate; and, said finger rollers being in engagement with saidfinger-roller guides for movement backwardly and upwardly above saidbase plate under control of said finger-roller guides, wherein, uponreaching said rear end of said finger-roller guides, said finger rollersfall onto said insertion ramps for the gradual insertion of saidinsertion fingers into the corresponding grooves of said base plate;and, rotary tension adjustment means connected between said at least oneaxle and said inserting arm means for reducing bounce of saidinserting-arm means.
 2. An insertion station as in claim 1 includingspring means for biasing said insertion arms and thereby said insertionfingers into contact with said grooves of said base plate.
 3. Theinsertion station of claim 2 wherein said spring means is comprised ofat least one helical spring acting on said at least one axle member. 4.The insertion station of claim 2 including spring bearing meansconnected to said helical springs for adjusting the bias of said fingerstoward said grooves of said base plate.
 5. The insertion station ofclaim 2 wherein said spring means is connected to said driving lever. 6.The insertion station of claim 1 wherein said insertion fingers aremolded from a flexible, hard-plastic material.
 7. The insertion of claim2, wherein said finger rollers are mounted adjacent said insertionfingers.
 8. The insertion station of claim 1, wherein said insertionfingers are molded from a flexible, hard-plastic material.
 9. Theinsertion station of claim 1, wherein said first member is a cam. 10.The insertion station of claim 1, wherein said finger rollers aremounted adjacent said insertion fingers.
 11. The insertion station ofclaim 1, including a cantilevered holding means that is elongate aboutan axis thereof and extending above said base plate between said groovesand substantially parallel thereto for holding down material that is tobe stuffed into said envelopes.
 12. The insertion station of claim 11,wherein said holding means is a brush.
 13. The insertion station ofclaim 12, wherein said brush is adapted to swivel about said elongateaxis.
 14. The insertion station of claim 1, wherein said inserting armmeans includes bearing block means journaled about said at least oneaxle;a bore hole in said at least one axle, said bore hole having aleading edge and a trailing edge thereof; an elongate fastening meansextending through said inserting arm means and into said bore hole sothat said fastening means engages said leading edge of said bore hole.15. The insertion station of claim 14, wherein said tension-adjustmentmeans is connected between said at least one axle and said bearing blockmeans.
 16. The insertion station of claim 15, including adjusting-ringmeans connected between said at least one axle member and said bearingblock means.
 17. The insertion station of claim 16, includingadjusting-ring means connected between said at least one axle member andsaid inserting-arm means.